PORT PHILLIP BAY


Elephant Snail 

Scutus antipodes (Montfort, 1810)

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

See below for information.

Source: Museum Victoria (2006) Melbourne's wildlife: a field guide to the fauna of greater Melbourne. Museum Victoria and CSIRO Publishing.

Taxonomy

Phylum:
Mollusca
Subphylum:
Conchifera
Superclass:
Visceroconcha
Class:
Gastropoda
Subclass:
Orthogastropoda
Order:
Vetigastropoda
Superfamily:
Fissurelloidea
Family:
Fissurellidae
Subfamily:
Emarginulinae
Genus:
Scutus
Subgenus:
Scutus
Species:
antipodes

General Description

Shell white, oval shape and surrounded by black muscular foot. Two black tentacles on the head. Shell up 10 cm long.

Biology

Elephant Snails emerge at night to graze on seaweeds. They were commonly eaten by Aboriginal people who cut away the black flesh to eat the muscular foot.

Habitat

In crevices and under boulders on rocky reefs.

Reefs

Coastal shores

Distribution guide

New Zealand and southern Australia.

Species Group

Sea snails and shells Snails

Depth

Shore (0-1 m)
Shallow (1-30 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

10 cm

Diet

Omnivore

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Recorded in Australia

Conservation Status

  • DSE Advisory List : Not listed
  • EPBC Act 1999 : Not listed
  • IUCN Red List : Not listed

Author

article author Patullo, B.

Blair Patullo is Online Producer for marine projects at Museum Victoria.

citation

Cite this page as:
Patullo, B., 2011, Elephant Snail, Scutus antipodes, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 19 Mar 2024, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/10945

Text: creative commons cc by licence